Tree
by Mysteriol
Summary: ONESHOT. They once carved their names onto that tree bark in the abbey. 7 years later, they will meet again at the exact same spot, where all has changed between them, but still never forgotten. KaiTala friendship.


Tree

Kai/Tala friendship

_A/N:_

_whee, it's been a while, but I swear I've been ficcating still about the Blitzkrieg Boys! My computer has been down for a while - what else, window corruption? ARGH, and I almost cried at the thought of many unsaved documents that crashed along with. But thank Kami-sama for the advance in technology that save my whole hard drive. DOMO ARIGATOU! XDD_

_I am a happy persion, so here is another Kai/Tala friendship from me! It delves into the past, to the present, and back to the furthur past again... YOu get the drift. Review!_

_And the Blitzkrieg Boys craze does not wane away. It burns, and lives!_

_mysterio000_

_Flashback: 10 year old Kai and Tala_

"Tala, what are you doing up there?" Kai squinted his eyes as he lifted an arm to his forehead to shield himself from the glaring sun rays. He looked up to see his redhaired friend perched on a tree branch precariously, and he frowned.

He thought for a moment that his friend had turned demented. Or worse, bored out of his mind till he resorted to childish acts like climbing tree.

Tala met Kai's gaze, and he waved, a grin to his lips. "Hey, Kai! Come up here and join me!"

Kai responded by crossing his arms indignantly, "I'm not going to do something stupid like you. You'll probably break a leg when you miscalculate and fall. I'll see what happens then."

The said person shot a frown down, and elicited a 'tch' from his lips. "Must you always be such a spoilsport, Kai? Come on up, unless you're scared of heights."

"I am not." He lifted his head, his nose high up in the air to prove his point, that Kai Hiwatari would always be ready for a challenge. That said, Kai pushed himself up onto the closest branch with a feet against the tree bark, and climbed effortlessly up to the high branch where his friend sat.

"Heh, you climb like a primate, Kai."

Kai's eyes turned into slits. "Must you be so crude?"

"Tch, fine. I was only joking."

"You have a warped sense of humor, whatever your humorous criterion is."

Both friends exchanged death glares, before Tala broke away with a smirk to his lips. "Okay, this is getting nowhere. Let's announce a truce for now. Look what I have here!" He held up a penknife.

Kai's eyes widened.

Tala laughed. "Nah, I'm not going to murder the tree or worst, perform suicidal moves on myself. Though I seriously won't mind committing it on Boris," he added silently under his breath, though heard by Kai perfectly, "But I'm going to carve something onto the tree bark!"

An incredulous look appeared on Kai's face. "What?"

"Carve something," Tala repeated, puffing his face in annoyance, "Haven't you heard of CARVING on a tree before?"

Kai shook his head.

"Have you been living in a well, you frog?" Tala insulted, ignoring Kai's protruding dagger from his cobalt eyes. He lifted up the penknife, and pushed it against the bark.

Curious, Kai leant forward, and watched his friend. "What are you going to carve?"

"My name." Tala announced proudly, as he adroitly carved the letter 'T' onto the thick brown bark of the tree.

Kai snorted. "You still think you're the ever best that grace the planet."

"Heh, don't act smarty-pants." Tala nudged Kai in the ribs, before looking back with satisfaction at his fresh artistic work done onto the tree. In bold, capital letters, TALA had been carved flawlessly onto the bark. "And just so you don't get left out, here you go."

Kai's eyes swirled with confusion as Tala offered the penknife towards him. "Huh?"

"Carve your name onto the tree, stupid."

"Can you stop calling me names?" Kai glared, irritated as he snatched the penknife from his friend. Tala's only response was a smug tilt to his lips and a 'heh'. "And why must I carve my name, too?" He continued asking, despite already holding the penknife in his hand.

Tala rolled his eyes, "For memorial purposes, duh."

"Who wants to ever remember we once lived in this abbey?" Kai retorted back.

"Well, you would at least want to remember you had a friend like me, right." Tala crossed his arms, his patience beginning to be tested by one Kai Hiwatari.

Kai gave 'tch, fine', and leant towards the trunk, penknife ready to do its work. as K-A-I slowly formed themselves onto the bark, Tala inspected it.

"Heh, not bad for an amateur." He taunted, though not seriously.

Insulted, Kai shove the penknife back into Tala's hands. "Get off it." He then turned to witness the fresh alphabets he had carved, and was quietly satisfied to see what Tala had later added in again.

**TALA AND KAI WERE HERE.**

Tala tugged his penknife swiftly back into his pocket, and shot Kai a smirk. "Looks good, don't you think?"

Kai shrugged, hating to inflate his friend's ego. "Whatever."

_C-C-Crack!_

"Did you say something, Kai?" Tala looked confused, but a knowing look was dawning upon his face, striking it with horrified recognition at the sound.

Kai launched himself up. "No, I didn't, but I think the tree branch did."

And the branch promptly cracked into two.

"SHIT!"

"WE'RE GONNA DIE, KAI!"

_Present: 7 years later, before Ray and Kai's battle_

Tala landed perfectly on his feet. Recovering almost instantly, he then turned around, and tilted his head skywards to catch a last glimpse of that same old tree, and that same old spot where the carvings still exist.

Then, he pivoted in his heels, just about to walk away, when he halted abruptly in his pace.

Right before him, Kai Hiwatari stood, two-toned blue hair disheveled, in his stance of coldness and impersonality as usual. But he had grown taller, and much more starkly handsome in comparison to childhood years.

Tala suppressed his surprise, though his lips parted slightly in slight bewilderment.

"Kai..."

Time seemingly froze to nothing, slowing to a zero, as both boys stood facing each other, cobalt meeting blue eyes. Then gradually, Kai lifted his gaze towards the same tree, at the exact same spot where Tala had viewed earlier.

No words were exchanged, and Tala did the only thing he deemed appropriate. He gave a half-sneer, and brushed by Kai coldly.

But he stopped when he was inches away past Kai, and closed his eyes, uttering two words of four syllables.

"You remember." It was a flat tone, nothing of cynicism or sarcasm, nor a question, but rather a statement.

And Tala walked away, leaving Kai Hiwatari staring up to the carved spot on the trunk, nostalgia swirling in the pit of his heart.

_Flashback: The night before Kai leaves the abbey, after Black Dranzer incident_

Tala sat on the tree branch by his side, his legs kicking in and out in a form of habit. They had sat like this for hours, watching the sunset, and now, the moon sailed across the night sky, and they had not taken effort to break the companionable silence.

Finally, Tala spoke, softly. "You're leaving."

He knew.

Kai snatched himself from his reverie, and blinked. "How did you--"

"You can't fool me." Tala glared, though his hurt was evident in his eyes. Kai had not missed it as well. "You're leaving, aren't you, Kai?"

The air held a pregnant silent note, before Kai looked down, his shoulders slumped.

Tala hissed. "Why?"

"I...I did something bad." _Black Dranzer. _"There's no way I can stay here anymore."

Silence. Long silence that seemed to drag on forever.

It was then when Tala looked into Kai's eyes, his face holding a hurt, but serious look that touched Kai somewhere in the soul.

"You'd better not forget me, you idiot." He glanced sideways.

Kai was momentarily stunned, before he shook his head, his hair ruffling in the wind, a small, boyish smile facing his lips. "Takes me more to forget someone who has been through Boris's clutches and back with me."

A similar smile appeared on Tala's face, as they looked into each other for a few passing seconds.

"Penknife, Tala?" Kai abruptly asked, changing the subject. Confused, the redhaired retrieved it from his pocket and held it out.

"What for?" He looked quizzical as Kai took it in his arm, leant forward towards the same spot on the tree bark where they had once carved their names on it.

Kai said nothing, but merely added in one word to the sentence.

Nevertheless, when he leant back, done with his work, and allowed Tala to see, a true, sincere smile had appeared on the redhaired's face.

"Always, Kai." Tala said.

On it, the complete message now read:

**FRIENDS TALA AND KAI WERE HERE. **

**Owari **

_A/N:_

_Okay, I hope the flashback sequences and present times did not confuse you too much .I'm sorry if there are grammatical errors or sort, because I had no time to beta them. I swear I will next time. I'm rushing for time, so I've took the risk by uploading this fic by not scanning through for errors..Pardon me!_

_Review, and REALLY make my day. XDD_

_mysterio000_


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